Barcelona News: Tuesday 25 September

Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy arrived in New York yesterday. Rajoy, who was there to join the general assembly of the UN this Tuesday, was met with questions by reporters regarding fiscal reform and how he plans to respond to demands by the Catalan government (read story here). In an effort to track truency in secondary school students, the institute Enric Borràs in Badalona has installed face recognition cameras (read story here). Interview with Fernando Trueba whose latest film, 'El artista y la modelo', is received with wide critical acclaim (read interview here).

El Periódico

Shortages in the public health system, which are often covered by doctors and nurses on their own time and without renumeration, will not be sustainable for much longer (read story here). Artur Mas heads to the parlament today with the aim of achieving early elections and a referendum on Catalan independence (read story here). The Mercè closes with an estimated 1.4 million people in attendance (read story here).

El Punt-Avui

Almost a third of Europe's city dwellers are exposed to excessive concentrations of airborne particulate matter (PM), one of the most important pollutants in terms of harm to human health as it penetrates sensitive parts of the respiratory system, according to a new report published today by the European Environment Agency. Spain faces possible sanctions for the European Commision for incompletion of limits on airborne contaminants (read story here).